Regulating Transnational Corporations in Domestic and International Regimes

Africa's natural resources have been of interest to other areas of the world for centuries. During the nineteenth-century European colonization of Africa, raw materials such as rubber and diamonds were often extracted and exported by foreign businessmen and colonial governments. Today's transnational corporations (TNCs) continue the practice.

This study explores the range of strategies for regulating the social and environmental practices of TNCs in Africa's extractive industries. While acknowledging the partial success of conventional regulatory strategies, Evaristus Oshionebo argues that the current power imbalance between TNCs and African host governments makes them impossible to enforce effectively. Rather than simply critiquing the existing systems, Oshionebo proposes that a pluralistic approach, involving government agencies, corporations, non-governmental organizations, and local community associations in the regulatory process, might provide better results in Africa.